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Versatile Swedish forward Milton Gästrin offers value late in 2025’s first round
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Photo credit: Filip Rylander/MODO Hockey
Ryan Pike
May 23, 2025, 16:00 EDTUpdated: May 22, 2025, 22:47 EDT
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In the long, illustrious history of the Calgary Flames franchise, they’ve developed some tendencies at the NHL Draft. In recent years, especially, they’ve drilled down into the Western Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League quite a bit. But one hallmark of the Flames franchise – dating all the way back to Kent Nilsson in 1979 and Hakan Loob in 1980 – has been drafting impactful Swedish players.
When the Flames look to select late in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, a player that could really provide them with value and versatility is Swedish forward Milton Gästrin.

Scouting report

A product of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden – the same town that William Strömgren hails from – Gästrin is a June 2007 birthday. He’s a left shot forward that plays centre and the wing, and he’s listed at 6’1″ and 185 pounds.
Gästrin has played the past few seasons in the MoDo Hockey system and he’s progressed quite a bit since joining up. He made his professional debut this season, suiting up for eight SHL games.
Over at Dobber Prospects, Jordan Harris wrote this scouting report of Gästrin back in January:
Gastrin started his draft season off on fire. He was captain of Sweden’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup team and produced 10 points in five games, and that same success bled into his club play with MoDo’s J20 squad. A mid-season injury held him out of the World Junior A Challenge, and his production has tailed off since the injury, but Gastrin remains a promising prospect. Gastrin can play centre or on the wing and could be used up and down the lineup. His tools are solid across the board, even if none of them are considered high-end or elite. He has a good frame which he’ll likely be able to add weight to as he matures. The upside for Gastrin is a 2nd line point producing forward, but he’ll most likely end up as a middle-six player.
In his April draft rankings, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis had this assessment of Gästrin:
Gastrin has been excellent in Swedish national team action, developing into quite a responsible two-way player. Gastrin will not be a point producer in the NHL, but he will do so many other things that excite you. He’s defensively responsible, wins a ton of face-offs and can play the wing when you need him to. We’ve seen him play with some of Sweden’s better players in international junior tournaments, and he has never looked out of place.
Does Gästrin project as a top-tier NHL centre and a game-changer? Not especially. But from what scouts are saying, he’s extremely toolsy and extremely versatile, which could provide the team that selects him with a lot of value and options going forward.

The numbers

Gästrin played a lot of hockey in 2024-25, suiting up for MoDo in the J18 (Sweden’s national under-18 league), the J20 (Sweden’s national under-20 league) and the SHL, and he also represented Sweden at the Under-18 Worlds and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. (He served as captain for the national team in both events.)
The bulk of his season was spent in the J20, posting 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points over 40 games.
Among first-time NHL Draft eligible players in the J20, Gästrin stacks up pretty nicely:
  • He’s fifth in points, behind Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, Theo Stockselius, Max Westergard and Mikkel Eriksen.
  • He was sixth in goals, behind Ihs-Wozniak, Stockselius, Eriksen, Westergard and Eddie Genborg.
All-in-all, Gästrin posted some very positive results in a strong junior league.

Availability and fit

In terms of availability, Gästrin has consistently appeared late in the first round on most major public draft rankings. Some rankings have him in the mid-to-late 20s. Some rankings have him just outside of the first round. Daily Faceoff’s April rankings had him at 32nd overall. He’s not a guarantee to be available to the Flames with the Florida pick, but he’s a decent bet to go around that spot.
In terms of fit: is there’s anything that goes together quite as well as the Flames and Swedish draft choices? Heck, Calgary’s current captain was a later first-round choice in 2007 as a toolsy centre from Sweden. Taking a Swedish forward is rarely a bad bet.

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